Hello, my name is Sunny Wick. I am a junior at Ridgway Secondary School. I have been given the opportunity to be an intern for the Smithsonian as part of their National Youth Leadership Team. I will have the chance to meet with Youth Leaders around the country over a series of biweekly Zoom calls before all meeting in person in Washington, D.C. in July.
Me and my dad
I have always loved history, specifically, I live political history and the application of it. Seeing what we can learn from it and how we can share it with others. When I found out that this history internship would be focused on American history and how we can use it and learn from it, I was ecstatic. The leadership team will engage in conversation about what topics we as students believe are most important and relevant. With our input, the NMAH will create a video and content that will be used to host regional summits across the country and in classrooms.
So far, we have had two meetings. One topic that we have continued to talk about is the upcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S.A. In the first meeting, we discussed our feelings about the anniversary and what it means. I talked about how this year the anniversary feels different because of the challenges to our constitution and our current political climate. We should celebrate how far we have come as a country while also acknowledging our faults and recognizing how much we can still grow.
The second meeting featured a guest speaker, Megan Smith. She is the head of Experience Development at NMAH. We had time to talk in small groups about questions we might have for her. She shared the design, blueprints, and plan for the 250th anniversary installation. The premise of the installation is 250 objects that tell the story of America. We were able to then go back and take a look at some of these objects with our small groups and assign words to them. One object that stood out to me was an old Nintendo NES. My group thought that it was very representative of how much technology has been able to connect us.
Smithsonian 250th year installation logo
Nintendo NES that was shown to us
So far, this internship has been super interesting. It has been such a pleasure to get to meet other young people who are just as passionate about history and leadership as I am, and I can’t wait to continue to learn with my peers.
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